


a neon-glow shining (don't wait up for us)

by misura



Category: Star Wars: Canto Bight - Various Authors
Genre: Canto Bight, M/M, POV Alternating, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 00:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19712323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: A reunion in Canto Bight.





	a neon-glow shining (don't wait up for us)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fairleigh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fairleigh/gifts).



_One hundred years of being a professional, and this is what it comes to._ On some level, Anglang knew that he'd brought it on himself. _One botched job, and suddenly, I'm out._

The funniest thing, by a certain definition of 'funny', was that Anglang knew he hadn't botched the job. He'd made a choice. A foolish choice, perhaps, but a deliberate one. A choice that meant that instead of enjoying his retirement, he was now reduced to picking up whatever small, shitty jobs he could find.

To add insult to injury, Officer Brawg still lived. Anglang suspected that there might have been a bit more to the hit he'd been hired for than the Old City Boys had told him. That didn't bother him. He'd worked long enough for the Syndicate to accept that your bosses only ever told you as much as they felt you needed to know to get the job done.

Still, Anglang thought it would have been nice if someone had killed Brawg by now. He'd toyed with the idea of asking for a second chance, maybe even at a discounted rate, but in the end, his pride hadn't let him.

_Pride doesn't jingle._ At the rate he was going, it would be a long time before Anglang would be able to retire in comfort to some nice, hot and out of the way planet. _A very long time._

All for the sake of some naive little man he'd never met before and would likely never meet again.

Every once in a while, Anglang toyed with the idea of leaving. At least some of his contacts from the old days would still be alive. Tracking down someone like Kedpin Shoklop shouldn't be a problem.

_And then what?_ Anglang always tried to be honest with himself. _There's no place for you in his boring life. He's a salesbeing. You're a criminal. Just enjoy the memories._ Not that were as many of them as Anglang might have liked.

The job was a simple snatch-and-grab, way below Anglang's pay grade. Some time ago, Anglang had let 'slip' that he hated jobs like this, and so now they were pretty much all he got offered. He knew that if it hadn't been for his Syndicate ties, he wouldn't even have gotten this much.

He also knew that hanging around the spaceport, hoping that Kedpin might happen to show up again was a fool's errand. Still, it kept Anglang going. It might happen. That was what he told himself. _It might happen._ If Kedpin rigged the computer a second time, if VaporTech let him get away with it, if the vacation was still to Canto Bight - well, given recent events, Anglang couldn't imagine they'd change it back to Coruscant.

For now though, none of that mattered. For now, all that mattered was the job he'd come here to do.

*

_I'm going back to Canto Bight!_ Kedpin still couldn't believe it. Sure, he'd worked hard this past year, refreshed by his vacation. He knew that nobody could have worked harder than he had.

He'd even gotten the viewport seat this time! A small thing, perhaps, but Kedpin knew that 'every great victory starts with a small one'. In order to make a sale, first you had to convince someone to hear your pitch.

Armed with the experiences from his last visit, Kedpin knew that he'd be able to enjoy his second visit even more than his first one. He wouldn't be taken in again by liars and swindlers. He'd be careful with his money. He'd have a wonderful time.

The only thing he hadn't yet been able to figure out was how to meet Anglang Lehet again. Kedpin knew he wanted to spend these next few weeks with the first new friend he'd made in a long time, but Canto Bight was a very big city, and Kedpin had no idea how to find Anglang.

In fact, he realized that he didn't even know if Anglang would want to be found. What if Anglang had forgotten all about Kedpin already? What if Anglang was involved in something illegal and criminal and dangerous, and Kedpin would make a mess of things by showing up?

_What if he's in trouble and needs a friend?_ Kedpin knew that if _he_ got in trouble, he'd be happy for Anglang to show up. In fact, whenever Laz Lazzaz had been having a bad day and taking it out on the salesbeings in his division, Kedpin had fantasized about Anglang walking in.

Kedpin pictured Anglang giving him a nod before he turned back to Laz, saying something like, _'Are you bothering my good friend Kedpin Shoklop?'_ (Kedpin had recently discovered _Crimson Daybreak_ , a rather exciting, long-running serial about criminals. Some of the more violent scenes were a bit upsetting, but he enjoyed how close all the main characters were to one another. It was almost like they were a family, even though they were all from different species.)

And Laz would look at Kedpin, and Anglang would step in between them, saying something like, _'Don't look at him. Look at me. I don't like it when people bother my friends.'_

Kedpin knew that it was only a fantasy, of course. It was a very nice fantasy, though, even if he knew his mothers would not approve.

Not that it mattered. After all, it would never happen in reality.

Kedpin made it out of the spaceport without any trouble whatsoever. He made sure to keep his eye on his luggage floater. Nobody tried to sell him any luggage passes. Perhaps they saw that he was an experienced traveller who would not be taken in by such tricks.

The air tickled his nose-slits in the same pleasant way he remembered. Kedpin breathed in, savoring the moment, trying to ignore the crowd of beings around him.

_You can do this!_ he told himself. _You're on Canto Bight! Remember, 'half the sale is getting into the door.'_

"Kedpin?" a voice he hadn't heard for a year except in his fantasies asked, and Kedpin felt all his good resolutions crumble as he turned around to face the man he had come here to see. He felt his eye begin to water.

*

Anglang Lehet had never felt embarrassed in his life. He saw no reason to start now.

Holding the pink, rubbery alien in his arms felt a bit strange, but Anglang had experienced far less comfortable sensations. For the moment, the main emotion he felt was puzzlement.

"Kedpin? Everything all right, little man?" Anglang didn't want to jump to any conclusions. He had done a bit of research on Wermals, just in case, but nobody he'd talked to had said anything about crying.

"M-my friends call me Ked." Kedpin sniffled.

A few beings were looking at them. Anglang gave them his death glare, and they quickly found something else to hold their interest.

"Ked," he said, trying to sound warm and friendly. It took surprisingly little effort. "Is something wrong?"

"I - " Kedpin's eye stared at him. "Uh. Excuse me." Kedpin blew his nose-slits. "Sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"Well, I would like to think you were happy to see me again," Anglang said. He'd never been much of a smooth talker - not enough of one to run those sorts of jobs, anyway. He'd always preferred threatening people over tricking them. It felt cleaner, not that he'd ever made the mistake of saying so out loud.

"Oh, I am. Trust me. Very ah very happy." Kedpin blew his nose-slits again. "Very happy."

"Good," Anglang said. "Now, it's clear that you have some things on your mind. So why don't we go somewhere a bit more private and we can have a drink and catch up?"

Kedpin's eye still looked a bit watery, but he nodded. "Y-yes."

Anglang treated himself to some blue honeycup. Kedpin had calmed down by now and looked to be back to his old self. It should reassure Anglang, and yet he found it hard to keep from pelting Kedpin with questions. Something or someone had clearly upset Kedpin, and Anglang wanted to find out who they were so he could pay them a little visit and convince them of the wisdom not to do it again.

_Right. Like Brawg? Don't be an idiot._ Anglang sat down, placing Kedpin's drink in front of him.

"I-I don't know where to start, really," Kedpin confessed. "It's such a long story."

"Good," Anglang said. "I didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day, anyway." He smiled. Kedpin said nothing. "Perhaps you could start with how you got here," Anglang suggested. "Did you win again?" From what Kedpin had told him about the 'competition', that seemed unlikely.

Still, Kedpin was here. The money had to have come from somewhere. Perhaps, Anglang speculated, Kedpin had won the trip honestly this time? That would make a nice story, he thought. Corrupt system gets cleaned up and rewards a deserving, hard-working being?

_Sure, and Regellian cats purr._

*

"Not ... exactly," Kedpin said. He felt ashamed of himself. Losing control of his eye-fluids like that; what would Anglang think of him? "I uh. Well. In a way, I suppose you could say I became a bit of a criminal." He cringed. His mothers would be so disappointed in him!

And yet Kedpin knew that he had no regrets. If he had the chance to do everything over again, he'd make the same choices.

"A bit of a criminal," Anglang said, as if he was tasting the words. "Forgive me if I'm a bit slow, Ked, but isn't that like saying your seed glands are a bit swollen?"

Kedpin blinked, then felt his veins expand. "Why, yes. I suppose so. Very well. I am a criminal, Anglang."

Anglang nodded solemnly. Kedpin thought that perhaps Anglang was not quite aware of the gravity of what Kedpin had just said. Then again, Anglang was a criminal as well.

"So what did you do, Ked?" Anglang's tone was warm, friendly. Better yet, he sounded interested, like he really wanted to hear all about Kedpin's criminal acts.

Kedpin moisturized the skin around his mouth. "Well," he said. "I stole rather a lot of money."

Anglang nodded again. "VaporTech money," he said, as if he knew all about it already.

Kedpin wondered if perhaps Anglang did. If Kedpin was now known throughout the galaxy as some dangerous criminal, wanted by the police everywhere. _Surely not,_ he told himself. He'd gotten past Planetary Controls without any trouble. Using a fake name and fake papers, but even so.

"Not entirely VaporTech money." Kedpin hadn't wanted to go that far. VaporTech had been his life for so long, after all. Even if the company had not always (or ever!) valued him as much as he felt he deserved, Kedpin did not think that he would have been able to steal from it.

Anglang leaned back, eyes closed, sipping his drink. Kedpin admired his elegance, his calmth. It must be nice, he thought, to never have any doubts.

"I figured out how to get into my manager's expense account," Kedpin confessed. He'd gotten the idea from an episode of _Crimson Daybreak_. It had been much easier to do than he'd expected. Four months of working at it a few hours a day, that was all. Kedpin had regretted sacrificing his rest-time, and his mothers had worried about him more than usual, but when he'd held his travel-voucher to Canto Bight in his hands, he'd known that it had all been worth it. 'Hard work always pays off,' indeed!

"The odious Laz?" Anglang chuckled. "Good for you, Kedpin."

"I may have gotten him fired." Kedpin had felt a bit bad about that. Laz might be a cruel and unpleasant being, but he had never done Kedpin any actual harm, apart from making his life miserable for decades.

"He deserved it, for messing with your sponsorship chip," Anglang said.

Kedpin sucked in some air through his nose-slits. Anglang gave off a certain scent, he realized. It smelled like warm sand and exotic spices and adventure - though that last one was probably just Kedpin's imagination. "I didn't figure that out until a few months after I got back."

"His boss probably told him to," Anglang said. "He wouldn't have done it on his own."

Kedpin chuckled. He felt brave. Bold. Was this what being a criminal felt like? If so, he rather thought he could get used to it. "How do you know so much? It's as if you were there."

"You meet a lot of people in my line of work," Anglang said.

Kedpin wanted to point out that as a salesbeing, he'd met a lot of people, too. Yet none of his customers had become his friends. None of his customers would have dropped everything in their own lives to come and help him out if he'd gotten himself in trouble.

"Anglang?" he said. Anglang was his friend. His best friend. Now that Kedpin had fallen into a life of crime, he might even be Kedpin's only friend.

Kedpin couldn't possibly risk messing that up. Swollen seed glands or not, he'd keep his mouth shut and his hands to himself and his eye on Anglang's face.

_Be strong. Be smart. Be the best Salesbeing you can be._

Except that Kedpin wasn't a salesbeing anymore, was he?

*

Anglang didn't know what was wrong with him. Kedpin needed a friend. Anglang intended to be that friend. He'd pull a few strings, find some beings still willing to talk to him, figure out what sort of heat VaporTech would be bringing, if there was anything to worry about.

With a bit of luck, Kedpin'd be fine. He'd be able to make a fresh start somewhere. A hundred years of experience selling stuff had to count for something. Then Kedpin could go back to living the boring life he deserved and enjoyed, while Anglang would - _what? Miss him?_

"Anglang?" Kedpin said. He sounded a bit inebriated.

"Yes, Ked?" Anglang decided he'd worry about missing Kedpin _after_ he'd gotten a better view of the situation. If VaporTech was connected somehow, if Kedpin's theft had upset someone it was best not to upset - well, that would change things. That would mean Anglang had to protect him.

"My seed glands really are swollen." Kedpin actually wrung his hands. "I don't - I think you are amazing, of course, and a good friend, and oh, I am making a hopeless mess of this, aren't I?"

_You wouldn't be saying that if your sense of smell was a bit more sensitive._ Another Caskadag would know exactly how much Anglang wanted to be Kedpin's friend. On many occasions, Anglang had found this useful. It cut down on the time you otherwise had to spend making small talk, determining whether or not the other party was interested in that sort of thing.

"Ked." He put a hand on Kedpin's body. Odd, really. The sensation of the clammy skin had once disgusted him. Now it was just Kedpin being Kedpin. "I think you're a bit drunk. It makes you say things you wouldn't say if you were sober."

"But it doesn't make me feel things I wouldn't feel otherwise," Kedpin said. "Does it?"

Anglang hesitated. "No, Ked." He put his other hand on Kedpin's body as well, hoping his sources hadn't lied to him or made something up. "Would you like me to take you back to my place? I might be able to do something about those swollen seed glands of yours."

"Oh. Oh! That is very kind." Kedpin stared at him wide-eyed. "But, Anglang, I don't think you realize - that is - oh, this is very difficult to explain."

"Actually, Ked, I think it's quite easy." Anglang moved his hands. Kedpin's entire body shivered, his eye half-closing. "All you need to do is decide whether or not you'd like to accept my invitation."

Kedpin shivered again. "Oh. Well. Yes. But - "

"Time enough for 'but's tomorrow." Anglang rose. "Let's go."

Kedpin muttered something about Salesbeing's Sayings, but he followed Anglang in what was more or less a straight line, so Anglang decided not to worry about it.


End file.
